Series: Supergirl
Episode: 108 "Hostile Takeover"
Previous Episode Review: "Human For A Day"
REVIEW
Full disclosure, this review is very, very late. My apologies. Normally, I post the reviews the weekend after the episode airs. However, due to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the holiday season, I was unfortunately unable to meet that deadline. But, as they say, it's better to be late than never.
"Hostile Takeover" marks the mid-season finale of Supergirl's 20 episode season, though not a particularly exciting one. At least, not exciting enough to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat. The preceding episode, "Human For A Day," was easily the best episode of the series. Considering how bad Supergirl can get at times, I was shocked at the level of quality provided by that episode. Was "Hostile Takeover" able to match that level of quality? Not quite, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was awful either.
"Hostile Takeover" is an episode comprised of two completely different stories that run parallel with each other. One is the continuation of the General Astra episode from earlier this season, the other concerns Cat Grant getting hacked by her own rich employee. When it comes to the latter, uninteresting corporate drama is uninteresting. There isn't much else to say on the matter, as I just didn't care for it. The only thing that caught my attention was actually quite trivial: Cat Grant asked Idris Elba on a date?!! What does the real Idris Elba have to say about this? That aside, I will say that I was impressed that Cat Grant was able to deduce Supergirl's secret identity.
When it comes to the Kryptonian storyline, I don't know how to feel about it at the moment. It has been lackluster thus far but it certainly has potential. The costume design was perfect; the characters definitely looked Kryptonian. It appears as if General Astra may not be the villain after all, but rather her husband, Non (who is traditionally General Zod's dimwitted henchman). I have yet to form an opinion on this iteration, other than Non is unusually intelligent in this series. I need to see more of the character. This does solidify my hopes that Faora shows up as a major antagonist.
The Kryptonian fight choreography remains as uninspired as before. The series has now resorted to directly stealing fight scenes from the far superior film, Man of Steel. *Sigh*
Side Notes:
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Since the episode brought it up, where have the Fort Rozz prisoners been? As soon as Reactron showed up, they practically disappeared.
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Not much Martian Manhunter in this episode. I guess CBS is building anticipation for the second half of the season.
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Dirk Armstrong is gone. Enter Morgan Edge?
VERDICT
Score: 7/10
The mid-season finale is an okay, if under-whelming episode. Hopefully this marks the end of the show's mediocrity.